A powerful Lobby Day
About 900 educators, along with 100 public school parents, made the three-hour trek by bus to Albany for UFT Lobby Day on March 11 to urge lawmakers to fix Tier 6 of the pension system, overhaul mayoral control of city schools and increase state...
Paraprofessionals Chapter elections this spring
Every three years, you have an opportunity to elect a school chapter leader, a paraprofessional representative for your school as well as the leadership of the citywide Paraprofessionals Chapter.
New agreement for VNS Health nurses
Federation of Nurses/UFT members who are Licensed Nurses employed by VNS Health overwhelmingly ratified a contract on Jan. 29 that provides a 15% pay increase over two years, additional money for experience differentials and improvements in...
Victoria Lee becomes UFT treasurer
Teachers’ Retirement System Board teacher-member trustee Victoria Lee was elected UFT treasurer by the union’s Executive Board. Lee filled the spot left vacant by the retirement of Debra Penny, who stepped down as UFT treasurer in December.
Revised nurses contract on Staten Island
The Federation of Nurses/UFT members at Staten Island University Hospital-South ratified a revised contract with Northwell Health that increases wages and steps and puts them on par with nurses at other unions that have negotiated contracts in the...
Three pension bills signed in December
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law three state bills in December that incrementally improved UFT members’ pension benefits.
Staging a great night on Broadway
About 500 new UFT members had the chance to see “How to Dance in Ohio” at Teachers Night on Broadway on Feb. 1. “It was complete joy,” said UFT Vice President Karen Alford, who leads the union’s new member initiative. “The show spoke to all of us as...
Hate crimes at schools on the rise
A new U.S. Department of Justice report found that hate crimes at schools, colleges and universities steadily increased from a pandemic low in 2020 to 2022, the latest year for which data is available.
California State faculty strikes, wins raises
After the first day of a planned weeklong strike, the California State University faculty union reached a tentative contract with the university that included big raises for the lowest paid instructors, who comprise over half of the union’s 29,000...
School districts sue social media companies
More than 200 school districts nationwide are suing social media companies, alleging the platforms’ addictive apps are harming youth mental health and forcing schools to devote more resources to help them.